What is shunning?
If members break their vows of baptism by disobeying the regulations of the church or the authority of its leaders and refuse to confess their error, they will face excommunication. The church, using several biblical scriptures, teaches that members should shun ex-members to remind them of their disobedience in hopes of winning them back. Different Amish affiliations practice different types of shunning and the mode varies by family and church. Shunning is not the end of social interaction, but involves rituals of shaming, such as not eating at the same table with someone who has been dismissed from the church. Wayward members can always return and be reinstated if they confess. People who leave the Amish but were never baptized are not excommunicated or shunned, because they never made baptismal vows. See Church Discipline for more information.
